What does it mean if you are West Indian?

What does it mean if you are West Indian?

Word forms: West Indians. adjective. West Indian means belonging or relating to the West Indies, or to its people or culture. countable noun. A West Indian is a citizen of the West Indies or a person of West Indian origin.

What do you call a West Indian?

It's become commonplace to refer to people from the Caribbean/West Indies as Caribbeans, Caribbeaners, even Antillians, in addition to the historical label of West Indians. More recently Afro-Caribbean and African-Caribbean have been added to the lexicon, to describe those who are of African descent.

Are West Indies Indian?

In spite of their diversity in ancestry and language, the countries of the West Indies share a largely common culture, the result of their somewhat parallel experiences as plantation colonies. The culture of the Caribbean people is a blend of African, American Indian, European, and, in some cases, Asian influences.

What race is West Indian?

The vast majority of non-Hispanic West Indian Americans are of Afro-Caribbean descent, with the remaining portion mainly multi-racial and Indo-Caribbean people, especially in the Guyanese, Trinidadian and Surinamese communities, where people of Indo-Caribbean descent make up a significant portion of the population.

Where does the term West Indian come from?

The term "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus's idea that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of southeast Asia, particularly India) when he had actually reached the Americas.

Where did the name West Indian come from?

The West Indies refers to a collection of islands in the Caribbean. These islands have nothing to do with India – they were named the West Indies because when Christopher Columbus arrived on the island of Hispanola (where the Dominican Republic and Haiti are), he thought that he was in India.

Where did Christopher Columbus land?

On Octo, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus made landfall in what is now the Bahamas. Columbus and his ships landed on an island that the native Lucayan people called Guanahani. Columbus renamed it San Salvador.

Who really found America?

Christopher Columbus The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 14. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas.

Who actually discovered America first?

Leif Eriksson Leif Eriksson Day commemorates the Norse explorer believed to have led the first European expedition to North America. Nearly 500 years before the birth of Christopher Columbus, a band of European sailors left their homeland behind in search of a new world.

Where did the Indians come from?

Indian population originated in 3 migration waves from Africa, Iran & Asia. The Indian population originated from three separate waves of migration from Africa, Iran and Central Asia over a period of 50,000 years, scientists have found using genetic evidence from people alive in the subcontinent today.

What ethnicity is West Indian?

• Demography . The vast majority of West Indian Americans are of African Afro-Caribbean descent, with the remaining portion mainly made up of multi-racials and Indo- Caribbean people , especially in the Guyanese and Trinidadian communities, where people of Indo-Caribbean descent make up a significant portion of the populations.

What is West Indian culture?

• West Indian culture tells the story of a dynamic cultural situation which is the continuation of a meeting – or clashing of, cultures that has been going on for hundreds of years. This began in the 15th century when African and European people came together to trade.

What is West Indian cuisine?

• West Indian Cuisine. While rice is the fundamental part of most West Indian cuisine, the dishes out of Gujarat are the exception, as wheat and other grains also play a major role in the dining experience. Rotis and several other types of flat breads are served with most meals.

What is West Indian literature?

• Caribbean literature is the term generally accepted for the literature of the various territories of the Caribbean region. Literature in English specifically from the former British West Indies may be referred to as Anglo-Caribbean or, in historical contexts, West Indian literature, although in modern contexts the latter term is rare.